Latch



July 4, 1939. F J, HARNEY 2,164,584

LATCH Filed Dec. 17, 1936 Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to spring latches for doors wherein a bolt automatically engages a locking socket when the door is closed. More specifically the invention relates to spring latches of the type in which the bolt is retained in retracted position when the door is opened. When the door is closed, a trigger releases a detent, thus allowing a spring to thrust the bolt into the locking socket. An important object of my invention is to construct a lock which will render it unnecessary to slam a door to push back the bolt so that it will ride over the door jamb and into the socket. The slamming of a door tends to weaken it, and loosen elements connected thereto, especially in automobiles where the windows are frequently broken because the doors are slammed too hard.

Although various attempts have been made to devise an elcient lock having the advantages described, the attempts have not resulted favorably because the locks have been either too cumbersome or too expensive. The latch according to this invention comprises a casing in which is slidably mounted an apertured bolt, a spring urging the bolt outwardly, a roller detent, and a trigger connected to the detent and extending through the slot and beyond the casing on the opposite side of the bolt from the detent.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of the inside 35 face of the latch with the bolt retracted,

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the outside face of the latch with the bolt thrust home,

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1, and

40 Fig. 4 is a view in cross section on the line 44 in Fig. 2.

A at metal casing 6 forms the base upon which the moving parts are disposed. Slidably mounted in the casing 6 is a bolt I having a rec- 45 tangular aperture I2 cut in its central portion and a V-shaped extension 5. Journaled on the casing is a conventional door handle 2 which is rigid with a wedge-shaped cam 4 disposed within the casing 6 adjacent the forward end of the ex- 50 tension 5. Bearing against the inner end of the bolt I is a powerful leaf spring 3 which terminates at one end in a coil secured within the casing 6. The spring 3 constantly urges the bolt I from the casing 6 and into the locking socket (not '55 shown) Pivotally mounted on the transverse pin 9 1s an angle piece comprising a finger carrying a roller detent l and a trigger 8 extending down from the pivot axis through the aperture I2 in i the bolt I and beyond the edge of the casing 6. A spring I4 is carried on the pivot pin 9 andy arranged to force the roller detent I into the aperture I 2, where it bears against the inner wall thereof and holds the bolt I in retracted position against the pressure of the leaf spring 3.

When the handle 2 is turned, the cam 4 acts on the extension 5 to retract the bolt I, and the spring I4 forces the detent 'I into locking engagement in the aperture I2, when the bolt I has been moved to a position where it is almost entirely within the casing 6. The door can then be opened freely.

When the door is being closed, the trigger 8 strikes a suitably disposed shoulder in the locking socket, thus forcing the detent 'I out of the 20 aperture I2 and allowing the spring 3 to thrust home the bolt I.

Many possible variations of the device above described will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and it should be understood that the 25 scope of the invention is limited only by the claims appended below.

What I claim is:

l. In a door latch, a casing, an apertured bolt slidably mounted in said casing, a leaf spring in said casing urging said bolt laterally in one direction, means for retracting said bolt against the action of the spring, a linger pivotally mounted on said casing and disposed partially in the aperture in said bolt, a roller detent carried on one end of said finger, and a spring mounted on said casing and urging said detent into engagement with one end of said aperture, the other end of said linger projecting through said aperture and outside said casing to serve as a trigger.

2. In a door latch, a casing, an apertured bolt slidably mounted in said casing, a leaf spring in said casing urging said bolt in one direction, means for retracting said bolt against the action of the spring, a roller detent pivotally mounted on said casing and arranged to abut against the inner wall of said aperture when said bolt is moved inwardly a predetermined distance, a trigger integral with said detent and projecting through said aperture beyond said casing, and a spring mounted on said casing and urging said detent into locking relation with said bolt.

3. A latch comprising a casing, a slotted bolt slidably mounted in said casing, an angle mem- 66 ber pivotally mounted on said casing and having a trigger end projecting through the slot in said bolt and one end extending laterally in said slot when said bolt is retracted, and a detent carried by the laterally extending end of said angle member, actuation of the trigger end of said angle member serving to free said detent from locking engagement with said bolt.

4. Device for locking a latch bolt in retracted position which comprises a slotted bolt, and an angle member disposed adjacent said bolt, one end of said member serving as a locking means for said bolt, the other end of said member projecting entirely through said slot and acting as a trigger.

FRANK J. HARNEY. 

